VanRoekel lists priorities for 2012

By FCW Staff

Feb 24, 2012

The federal government should aspire to promote a prosperous future for the nation through the strategic use of federal IT by driving efficiency across government, spurring innovation, protecting and defending U.S. resources and more effectively bringing services to citizens, according to Federal CIO Steven VanRoekel.

VanRoekel sounded a familiar refrain, stressing the need to “do more with less” at a breakfast organized by the Armed Forces Communications and Electronics Association's Bethesda chapter, held Feb. 24.

The government also needs to focus on meeting the needs of the changing world. With that comes the prevalence of social media and the mobile revolution, both of which are transforming how the government is delivering its services to citizens, VanRoekel said.

Despite tighter budgets and cutbacks in the past three years, the nation has innovated more than in the last decade, VanRoekel said, and there are many ways to do more with less. TechStat reviews, data center consolidation and FedRamp can help maximizing return on investment on federal IT, as well as using IT as a strategic asset.

FCW investigated efforts by the departments of Defense and Veterans Affairs to improve a joint data repository on military and veteran suicides. Something as impersonal and mundane as incomplete datasets could be exacerbating a national tragedy.